


BOUNDARIES

by PhenomenalBrat



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Brainia referenced, Crush on teacher, F/F, Flashback, Intersectionality disccused, Iris West mentioned - Freeform, James Olsen mentioned - Freeform, Kara Danvers mentioned - Freeform, Kelly and Lena friendship, Nia nal mentioned - Freeform, Other, Privilege, Querl Dox mention, Race discussed, Social Commentary
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-05
Updated: 2021-02-05
Packaged: 2021-03-17 12:02:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,594
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29225142
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PhenomenalBrat/pseuds/PhenomenalBrat
Summary: Kelly declines a work assignment from Lena following the events at the hotel in Central City and, taking some advice Iris had given her, she has an important conversation with her friend about power dynamics, privilege,  imposter syndrome and space in this one shot.
Relationships: Alex Danvers/Kelly Olsen, Kara Danvers/Lena Luthor
Comments: 6
Kudos: 11





	BOUNDARIES

**Author's Note:**

> Author's notes: Kelly explains intersectionality and power dynamics to Lena.
> 
> Author's notes: This takes place chronologically before, "....And then I just walked off like nothing had happened "

"...You're right. " Lena agree as Kelly finished. "That was unfair. "

Kelly nodded quietly. " I know you weren't deliberately trying to put me in these complicated positions…" Iris Advice from a few weeks ago, ran through Kelly's thoughts. 

_"Stand up for yourself. Even if it means, that's to your friends. Kelly this is exhausting. And if that hotel manage_ _r isn't here soon, I'm gonna rip someone a -"_

 _"Iris!"_ _Kelly had breathed out shocked at Iris words though she wasn't really surprised and had been having the same thoughts for awhile._

"I didn't- I hadn't fully thought about your reality as- because you're...you're my friend.

Kelly sighed. "I know. " She gives a pointed look. " You're also my boss. "

Lena sighed, looking down at her hands. "-you're boss who put you in a bad position" 

"I- that's why I'm telling you this. "

"Is Amelia okay?" Lena asked.

"She's fine. I mean she as well as could be expected. 

There was silence for a moment as they both thought things through.

"I- I can-"

"Lena do you remember when you and Kara hid the fact that Kara's powers had blown out and then sent me and Alex to Central City for that Women's conference?"

Lena cringed, nearly flinching at the question. It had been a point of frustration that Alex routine brought up when chastising Kara for recklessness. Lena had profoundly apologized for how Kelly could of been killed of course. " Yeah. That was-"

" You know the idea of women and business conferences focused on Women, is amazing." Kelly commented. 

"I thought you would like the concept. And I trust you so much." 

"I know. I love that you trust me to take the reigns. " They smiled softly at each other. Kelly grew more serious. "I was really unhappy with you."

"I know. You could of been killed. "

"Lena. I'm ex military. On some twisted semi PTSD level, my brain is prepared for a near death experience. You- you sent me into a situation where-where it was- like I was the only person like me."

"Kelly-"

"Or at least it was a minutely small amount of Women like me."

The words " Black women " hover unspoken above both of their heads as Kelly waits for Lena to get there on her own at this point in the conversation. 

"Women who are-"

"Black women. "Kelly just blurted it out bluntly. " It's like I was telling you early about the pompous old sexist white guys. There's power dynamics at play there that hit me 4x as much as they would in you."

"Because I'm rich and- whi-"

"And white. It's not a curse word Lena. You can say that. " Kelly fidgeted a bit in her seat getting comfortable again.

"I'm not exact the straight, pure republican Princess these groups normal adore. It kinda knocks the power level down a few notches," Lena explain, references to her own sexuality as the social breaker, that on some respects it undoubtedly would be given what Kelly herself had noticed. 

Kelly gave a point look as of to indicate that that was a similarity they shared. " Fair enough. But I have to walk into these situations you drop me blindsided into, being queer and black and a women, without the buffer of being rich or white. You can see how that's different. And its not that you ask or need me to do that stuff that upset me."

"The lack of warning?"

Kelly nodded. " I don't wanna sound lazy or needy but there's a certain-" Kelly paused, searching for the right word, " There's a mental preparation I have to do before I go into those kinds of situations. It's sort of a routine for my brain that I developed for myself in college. I had to."

"What happened in college?" Lena voiced her curiosity, shifting the subject some what.

"I-" Kelly laughed morosely, remembering it.. "I was taking this advanced Psychology class, called ' _Abnormal Psychology and behavioral deviations'_ in college. Hasani had the same class but at a different time so it was just me there. I walked in on the first day and...I was not just the only black woman in the class, which had about 112 people in it by the way. I was also the only black student. Period."

"Oh my god."

"Yeah. Like there were other women. There were other women of color. I was just the only Black one. Its hard to explain the difference. "

. . . .

(12 years ago)

_Kelly scurried across the campus. She was 10 minutes late getting up and had just barely avoided inadvertently eating a blueberry toaster strudel . Thank God Hasani had noticed what it was. She had swapped him for his strawberry one and been fine. The run across campus wasn't that far and with the trolley being as late as it was, a straight shot was her best bet. In retrospect, choosing a class that started at 830am maybe wasn't the best choice, especially given how difficult she had heard the class was. No use crying over spilled milk now though. She had all of 5 minutes to get there and find a seat and sit._

_"Kelly!" Rebecca yelled her name and waved, heading the opposite way._

_Kelly could only waved back politely as she rushed towards the Psychology building._

_She was lucky to have been able to land a spot in this class, considering how coveted it was. The professor, Adelaide Belweather, was known for being intelligent but complicated. Kelly had seen her around campus a few times. She was of average height, around 5 foot 7, and tended to dress in pencil skirts and dark purples and or read silky blouses. Sometimes she wore pants suits and heals and gave off this power bitch vibe, but in a good way. Kelly had never attended one of her classes though so she couldn't be sure._

_She looks serious and stern but also kinda soft and deeply quiet and intelligent. The skirts and blouse tended to hugged her noticeably curvy and probably to some people, surprisingly vivacious figure for a women who was pushing into her 40s. If Kelly were a more salicious person she might admit out loud that her eyes were at times caught by certain other attributes of Miss Belweather's. From what Kelly understood, the woman had a mix of French and koren heritage on her mom's side of the family, as well as Italian and Ghanaian on her dad's side of the family. Nature had certainly made a beautiful and intelligent mix there… professionally of course._

_. . . ._

_She made it through the door with two minutes to spare. She looked around, surveying for a seat and probably subconsciously seeking something familiar that would help her ease in. There were still students coming in behind her and she moved to let them pass as her eyes searched._

_Ms Belweather glided through the teacher's door near the front by her desk. She was going with a pants suit and dark purple blouse with the top two button slightly undone. She had a very focused energy as she tossed her jacket onto the chair and sat her bag down. Her eye surveyed the room as every filed in. Then she turned to the board and began writing, without speaking. Kelly noticed her eyes glance at the clock though, for a second._

_Kelly felt an almost gravitational pull as she made her way down to the front row trying not to worry about anything beside simply learning and studying in the class today. There were multiple empty seats along the first row. A lot of people seemed nervous to venture there._

_Kelly slid into next to a petite young Chinese woman in a pink sweater and jeans, that she vaguely recognized from a behavioral psychology introduction course she'd taken last quarter. They had hardly spoken then. Hasani had been her partner for most of that course last quarter._

_"Kelly?" The girl greeted her. She clearly remembered her._

_Kelly wracked her brain trying to recall the girl's name as she sat down. "Hey. Good to see you again. " Kelly settled on an old strategy Hasani had taught her. If you can't remember someone's name then just talk around it and pretend you know it until someone else says it for you. The other woman nodded at her and Kelly sat her bag down and began quickly pulling out her book._

_There was an uneasy feeling running up her spine. It was hard to explain. It was like something she could feel behind her. It was like...she didn't want to call it radar but it was in a sense. It was like this internal radar when you were in public and in a space where you couldn't "make ruckus in the white man's establishment " and your brain as a Black person subconscious sought out other Black person._

_She had sort of hoped that someone might come in after she had looked the room over but that didn't seemed to be the case. She could tell because she felt like she was being watched, liked some imposter among the collection of people. It probably wasn't even anything that was being done consciously by anyone either._

_"Alright, that's enough time for you all to find your seats. I will expect more punctuality in the future. Time is of the essence. I have a lot to teach and a finite amount of time to teach it." Professor Belweather was quick and firm and direct. She went right to the point in a clear way. It was both soothing and strict like verbal discipline but not rude. "I expect you to all have read the first 3 chapters. I won't be going over it again like this is kindergarten."_

_A guy, about 3 rows back laughed._

_"Is there something funny, that you feel will be relevant to the discussion, Mr-?"_

_"Morris. Maam I apologize. I just- I've heard this speech from just about every professor in this university in the past 2 and a half years. I wasn't trying to be disrespectful."_

_"Intent doesn't really negate ones behavior." The professor shot back. " But thank you for giving us our first class discussion of how perception impacts behavior. " She scanned her eyes over the room before landing on Kelly. "Miss-"_

_"Olsen. It's uhm- Kelly. Kelly Olsen."_

_"Miss Olsen-" The way her name rolled off professor Belweather's lips so smoothly, was nice and clean and pleasing. It was firm but...inticicing. It was familiar but Kelly couldn't or perhaps wouldn't place why. "Explain to the class how pass perceptions and experiences relate to present behavior and why one should apply critical thinking over projection and emotionalism, using Mister Morris as an example."_

_Shit. She hated being put on the spot especially in circumstances like this,, but felt compelled to obey Professor Belweather. She quickly works to relax her brain and ignore that intense " imposter" feeling that crept up her spine._

_"Well…"_

_. . . ._

" Oh wow. That's- wow."

"Yeah. There's this-"

" - Loneliness? Imposter syndrome?" Lena supplied some answers clearly relating some what to what Kelly was saying. 

"Yeah. But magnify that by like 4x as much."

Lena looked down clearly feeling chastise. 

"That's what it's like when you put me in these positions with no warning or forethought about the material reality of the difference in how we navigate space."

"Kelly-"

"It's sorta like what I told you on the phone after Patrick-"

The rest of the statement hung in the air as both women recall Kelly's impassioned statement. _" Its not about you or Alex or even me. You don't just take resources away from vulnerable Black kids to make yourselves feel better! And safety is an illusion anyways!"_ Kelly's words had echoed through the phone that night as she dragged everyone for their lives.

Lena nodded. "I'm sorry for-"

"I needed to hear that."There was silence for a moment. " I could- "

"Lena can I make a suggestion?"

"Of course. "

"Cancel these conferences and board meetings. Just send out mass emails. You hate being around those rude sexist men. I do too. And-"

"And give you more notice to prepare for things respectfully. And respect the fact that you can't do every single thing, meeting wise, if it puts you or your family in a bad position. "

Kelly nodded, feeling proud that Lena had clocked that information so well. She had worried that her rather borderline hysterical rejection that had been near yelling when she declined an assignment to go to Gotham would have derailed the conversation they needed to have. Things had turned out well though. She really needed a mental break.

**RING!**

The blarring of Kelly's phone brought the discussion to a pause.

She fished it out of her bag, noticing it was Alex. There was also a text with a video attach but she had to check it later. She answered. 

"Its Alex." She explained to Lena. Lena simply nodded.

"Kelly. My love. My patient, understanding-" Alex was rambling.

"Alex? Hey babe. What's going on?"

"Okay. Don't be mad-"

No sentence that ever started with " _don't be mad"_ was ever followed with good explanations or calming information. "Alex-"

"Listen okay. I sorta need you babe. There was sort of a situation at the park and...good news is Amelia is okay but scared. Bad news is, this guy I punched is pretty much out cold."

"Wait. What? Alex-"

"I promise I had a good reason. He said- well a word I won't repeat to our 7 year old and tried to grab her."

That actually did sound Valid to Kelly. She didn't want to condone outright violence though. "Wait. What? Babe, hang tight. I'm on my-" She paused looking over at Lena.

"Something happened to Amelia-or Alex." Kelly explained. 

Lena nodded. "Is she okay? Lena reached for her signal watch. Do we need Kara to-"

"No it's fine. Alex- took care of it. Sorta- sounds like she punched him."

"Oh good. " Lena visibly relaxed. 

"I've got to-" Kelly almost shook her head at how unphased Lena was at the news of Alex punching a man out cold.

"Of course. I'm not just your boss. I'm your-"

"Friend. And once family in some complex way." Kelly smile, considering that. 

"Well if we each marry one reckless but beauty Danvers woman-"

Kelly rubbed her thumb over the engagement rich on her finger. " I gotta go get my girl outta trouble. Are we good?"

"Absolutely. I feel like I should be asking you that. I feel do stupid for not-"

"You not stupid. You're just- " Kelly let the answer hang unspoken and obvious in the air.

"Yeah."

Kelly grabbed her bag and stood up. "Babe. I'm on my way, okay," She told Alex before ending the call. She turn back to Lena. "But having said all that, you and Kara are still joining Brainy and Nia, Alex and I for a double date at _Lu' Rivera_ this weekend?"

"For Alex _Not_ birthday party?" 

Kelly laughed a little as she scurried towards the door. "Yes."

**. . . .**

That had gone a lot smoother than it could have. Now she just needed to find out what exactly had happened at the park with Alex and Bill's execution coming up still hung darkly in the back of her heart and mind. But one problem at a time…Now was probably not the time to mention that to the others quite yet. 

She moved quickly down the hall now. Time was of the essence. 

**FIN**

Thank you for reading. Please leave Questions, comments or Kudos or constructive criticism. 

**Author's Note:**

> Author's notes: Okay, in defense of young Kelly, how many of you have never thirsting after a hot looking MILF teacher who really had no business being that hot and being a teacher, but you brain was also just like…" I just must really admire her." Be honest with yourselves. 
> 
> Author's notes 2: Thank you for reading. Kelly, in an extremely gentle way, was explaining power dynamics and intersectionality to Lena as well as the nature of privilege. I think the way this conversation is presented is equally fair to both Lena and Kelly. Hopefully people learn and take something useful from this.
> 
> -BJ


End file.
